Hands-on Training

Nothing beats real-life experience in your field of study. NU courses require an internship, and faculty members and career development counselors help match students with the employers that are best for them. Many internships and co-op experiences are even paid!

Shepherd Alliance Summer Poverty Internship Opportunities

Vincentian Poverty Studies/Shepherd Consortium

Summer Intensive Internships

All returning undergraduates who are in good academic standing are eligible to apply [1].

What is the Vincentian Poverty Studies/Shepherd Consortium Internship Program?

The summer intensive internship program unites student interns from universities that are part of the Shepherd Poverty Consortium[2] with agencies that work to benefit impoverished members of society. A primary goal of the program is to bring together students from leading universities who have a desire to address poverty.

Following the opening conference (typically held at Washington & Lee University) students then learn firsthand about the multiple dimensions of poverty in the United States by working for eight weeks to strengthen impoverished communities and work alongside individuals seeking to improve their communities. The agencies, located in various urban and rural sites in the United States, focus on education, healthcare, legal services, housing, hunger, social and economic needs, and community-building efforts. Students work with agencies that fit their intellectual interests in order to develop their experience and skills for civic involvement and employment.

The internship concludes with a closing conference. The 2012 conference was at the Clinton School of Public Policy at the University of Little Rock, Ark.

[1] Preference may be given to students who have completed SWK 120: Addressing Poverty

[2] The Consortium includes schools such as: Berea, Middlebury, Morehouse, Notre Dame, Wooster, Spelman, and Washington and Lee University law and undergraduate programs; and participating Bonner Scholar institutions.

PLEASE NOTE: In addition to completing the full summer internship, participation for the duration of the opening and closing conferences are mandatory, as well. Transportation from NU to the opening and closing conferences will be arranged.